


In the Mist

by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling, Heroes - Fandom
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-27
Updated: 2010-03-27
Packaged: 2017-10-08 08:38:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/74718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niki and Tonks meet in the afterlife.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Mist

**Author's Note:**

> As I think I'm becoming obligated to one very odd fic a request run, this one comes from nevermindirah, who put in for, "Niki and Tonks run into each other in the afterlife." Never say I won't give it a go.

For the first few days, or maybe it was hours, or maybe it was weeks, she searches for DL. She has no idea where she is, only that it’s mostly formless and vaguely gray. Niki walks in a straight line hoping to come across something that looks even remotely familiar, but all she sees is more mist-like vapors and all she hears are her own footsteps. She calls out a few times, but there’s not even an echo, and she remembers, clearly, Micah telling her with absolute eight-year-old authority that ducks don’t echo.

She sits down, and she cries. There’s no time in the mist, but when she lifts her head again, the vaguely gray looks vaguely yellow, and there’s a woman standing nearby. Niki swallows and hiccups and sniffles, surprised that of all the things she doesn’t have now, she still has the aftermath of a crying jag. “Hi,” she says to the woman, who has pink hair and worn out jeans and a kind face that reminds Niki of DL’s mother, although this woman isn’t that old.

“Hey,” and there’s an accent there, but Niki can’t place it.

“Where am I?”

The woman shrugs, and it’s a loose-limbed movement, just a roll and a drop. “I dunno. I’ve been here…awhile, I guess. I’m Tonks.”

“Niki.” Niki stands and wipes at her eyes again. “Is it just us?”

“I’m not sure.” It’s an English accent, Niki decides, and that’s based solely on remembering how Mohinder curled his voice around his vowels.

“Do you know how long you’ve been here?”

“Nope.”

“Do you know how you got here?”

“I died,” Tonks says, as if it’s the only natural reason. “I was in battle, and then I was zapped, and then I was here.”

Niki’s not sure what to say to that. Battle? Zapped? She considers her options for response. “I was trying to save my niece from a fire. The building exploded, I think.”

“Painless, then.” It should be glib, something Niki could use to call this Tonks person insensitive, but the way she says it is somehow charming and nice, like she’s glad Niki got here without any pain.

“Is Tonks short for anything?” Because Niki has a sudden fierce need to make some connection with this woman, if only because they may both be stuck here for a very long time.

“It’s my last name. My first name’s Nymphodora.”

Niki blinks at that. “I could call you Dora.”

“Please don’t.” And Tonks pulls a face that almost makes it look like her nose completely changes shape. Niki feels herself smiling.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she says, and steps closer to Tonks. She entwines their arms because it feels natural.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Tonks replies, and leans against NIki briefly. “I was hoping…” she trails off, shakes her head, and starts them walking. “I was married,” she says after one hundred twenty-seven slow steps. “And he died, too, and we had a son. I thought, maybe, that you would be Remus.”

Niki’s heart twists in her chest, and she finds it odd that it does anything, considering that she’s sure she’s dead. “I was looking for my husband. He died saving me. His name was DL.”

“Did that stand for anything?”

“Dwight Lawrence,” and suddenly Niki’s smiling. “I used to tease him about it sometimes, when we had time alone. He never let me tell Micah what it stood for. It was so funny.” She doesn’t quite laugh, but she manages a hiccup. “And now Micah probably knows, but it doesn’t really mean anything. He can’t tease him about it.”

“There’s so much I wanted to tell Teddy,” Tonks says, her tone understanding. “He was just a baby, and I whispered all sorts of stories to him about his dad and grandparents, and about me, and I don’t think he’ll remember them at all.”

Niki thinks of the hard times in Las Vegas, the way Micah would look at her when he knew she was short cash and that was why she wasn’t picking up the phone. “I worry what Micah will remember.”

And they walk on, arm-in-arm, occasionally calling out, but mostly talking to one another, comparing lives and deaths and listing the things they hope other people will remember.


End file.
